Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: Lobstermen rally against delay in opening season

May 10, 2019 — South Shore lobstermen rallied Thursday morning at Town Wharf to protest the decision by the state Division of Marine Fisheries to delay the opening of the season until May 14 to protect right whales.

“There’s a lot of people that are suffering with this closure,” said rally organizer Sheryl Holmes, whose husband, Roscoe “Stoney” Holmes, is a commercial lobsterman who owns the F/V Haley’s Comet out of Plymouth.

The seasonal speed reductions and trap-gear bans imposed by the state to protect right whales typically end May 1, but have been extended first to May 8, and now to May 14.

Read the full story from the Cape Cod Times at the Patriot Ledger

MASSACHUSETTS: Lobstermen to rally in Plymouth over Cape Cod Bay closures

May 9, 2019 — After a period of bad weather, surveyors of North Atlantic right whales were able to fly on Tuesday over Cape Cod Bay, where the continuing presence of the animals has led state officials to extend seasonal bans on high boating speeds and lobstering through May 14.

But commercial lobstermen are beginning to bristle at the closures, citing the impact on their livelihood. South Shore lobstermen are planning a rally Thursday morning in Plymouth to protest the extended ban.

“There’s a lot of people that are suffering with this closure,” said rally organizer Sheryl Holmes, whose husband, Roscoe “Stoney” Holmes, is a commercial lobsterman who owns the F/V Haley’s Comet out of Plymouth.

The seasonal speed reductions and trap-gear bans imposed by the state Division of Marine Fisheries to protect right whales typically end May 1, but have been extended first to May 8, and now to May 14.

The Plymouth rally will be the first time commercial lobstermen in the region have come out as a group to protest against the closure extensions due to the ongoing presence of right whales, Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association Executive Director Beth Casoni said.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

MASSACHUSETTS: EXPANDED IN-STATE LOBSTER PROCESSING PROPOSAL BACKED BY SENATE

March 12, 2019 — The following was published by the office of Senator Bruce Tarr:

The State Senate has approved a measure authored by Gloucester Senator Bruce Tarr, and championed by a bi-partisan coalition of state Senators, that will reform state lobster laws would permit licensed wholesale dealers to process unfrozen lobster parts, import unfrozen shell-on lobster parts, and allow for the sale of processed lobster parts.

While the sale of live, cooked, canned lobster and tails is legal in the state, the law currently requires Massachusetts lobstermen and seafood vendors to sell or transport lobster out-of-state for processing for parts. This often means that Bay State lobsters are brought back for sale to consumers with a ‘Product of Canada’ label. Up to 80% of lobsters landed in the state are sent away for processing.

The legislation, adopted as part of S.2181, the Senate’s $144 million supplemental budget bill, mirrors similar language the Senate adopted last session, a move that government and industry experts say will remove constraints on consumer product options and give the multi-million dollar seafood industry capacity to grow.

“We have the second-largest lobster catch in the nation yet, without this bill, our raw and frozen lobster parts are processed in Canada or Maine only to then be brought back to local consumers,” said Senator Tarr. “This legislation modernizes those lobster laws to bolster the fishing industry and give consumers, including local restaurants and food stores more choices while sustainably supporting coastal fishing communities.”

In January, Tarr filed Senate Docket 1, an Act Regulating the Processing of Lobsters, the first bill of the session. That bill is now before the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture.

A Division of Marine Fisheries report has recommended adoption of the proposal citing an evolving interest from consumers in value-added lobster in the form of shell-on tails and claws.  The report says that the global market for Massachusetts landed lobster would be more readily accommodated with the new law.

“The Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association greatly appreciates Senator Tarr’s ongoing efforts with his colleagues to allow for the complete processing and sale of lobster parts in the state,” said Beth Casoni, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association. “We are looking forward to getting these operations running in the near future.”

Shifting handling from Maine and Canada will boost the viability and prosperity of the industry which will result in job creation.

“I’m proud that the Senate is working to ensure the sustainability and viability of the state’s lobster industry, which will give consumers more choices and benefit lobstermen in coastal communities statewide,” said Senate Committee on Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues (D-Westport).  “The lobster industry is a vital part of the Commonwealth’s economy and identity, and I applaud Senator Tarr and my Senate colleagues for supporting it.”

“Easing archaic constraints on lobster processing operations will allow a thriving industry to further invest in our local economy through expanding operations and creating new jobs, especially in New Bedford. I am proud to be a partner on this bipartisan measure, and it is my hope the House will finally accept this provision in conference and get it on the Governor’s desk.” said Senator Montigny(D- New Bedford), the lead cosponsor of the legislation.

Up to 80% of lobsters landed in the state are sent to out of state processing facilities and industry leaders say the move will facilitate opportunities to create and grow jobs in the state. The Marine Fisheries report notes that the lobster demand has spiked and has continued to evolve in favor of processed lobster parts.

“I am glad to join my colleagues in the Senate in support of our Massachusetts lobster fishermen,” said Senator deMacedo (R-Plymouth). “These advancements in our approach to lobster processing will provide an important benefit to the lobster industry and the fishermen who play such an important role in our communities and economy.”

The Senate’s supplemental budget bill will now be reconciled with the House’s version, which was also recently adopted.  Once a final version is approved by both branches the bill will advance to Governor Charlie Baker’s desk.

A Bacteria That Thrives In Warmer Waters Keeps Mass. Oyster Fisheries On High Alert

August 31, 2017 — Massachusetts loves its local oysters from places like Wellfleet and Duxbury. The state’s bivalve business is booming along with increased consumer demand. These days there’s no shortage of $1 oyster specials and oyster-centric restaurants around here.

But the ways oysters are harvested and handled have become more involved and challenging since 2013. That’s when bacteria linked to warming waters appeared in our marshes for the first time.

The result was an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness caused by Vibrio Parahaemolyticus — Vp or Vibrio for short. (To be clear, this is different from norovirus, which led to a closure of shellfish beds in Wellfleet last year.)

In response to the Vp bacteria’s emergence in New England, the state implemented a Vibrio Control Plan. Here’s how those state efforts to control bacterial infection have been affecting people in the oyster industry.

‘The Waters Are Warmer Than They Used To Be’

At Select Oyster Bar in Boston, you can find a rotating selection of Massachusetts oysters on-the-half-shell — Moon Shoal petites from Kingston, Ichabods from Plymouth and Wellfleet Puffers.

For about a dozen years Select’s chef-owner Michael Serpa has been serving mollusks in Boston establishments, including the cult-favorite Neptune Oysters in the North End. “I’ve seen a lot of oysters,” he told me, smiling.

Read and listen to the full story at WBUR

Accidental deaths of endangered whale threatens its survival

August 16, 2017 — PORTLAND, Maine — A high number of accidental deaths this year among the endangered North Atlantic right whale threaten the survival of the species, according to conservation groups and marine scientists.

The right whales, which summer off of New England and Canada, are among the most imperiled marine mammals on Earth. There are thought to be no more than 500 of the giant animals left, and there could be fewer than 460, as populations have only slightly rebounded from the whaling era, when they nearly became extinct.

Twelve of the whales are known to have died since April, meaning about 2 percent of the population has perished in just a few months, biologist Regina Asmutis-Silvia of the Plymouth, Massachusetts-based group Whale and Dolphin Conservation told The Associated Press this week. She and others who study the whales said this summer has been the worst season for right whale deaths since hunting them became illegal 80 years ago.

“This level of deaths in such a short time is unprecedented,” she said. “I just don’t know that right whales have time for people to figure it out. They need help now.”

Read the full story from the Associated Press at WRAL

Fishermen to Discuss Herring Buffer Zone in Plymouth

February 6, 2017 — A New England Fishery Management Council committee will meet Tuesday in Plymouth to discuss the progress being made to move midwater herring trawlers further offshore.

The Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance and local fishermen are looking for regulations which would move the herring trawlers at least 50 miles from the Cape and Islands to protect the ecosystem and small-boat fishing fleet.

“It’s something that we’ve done up in the Gulf of Maine, prohibited these vessels from fishing at certain times of the year so that other fisheries can have a shot or a crack at fishing,” said John Pappalardo, the CEO of the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance. “And we are trying to do something similar down here.”

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

National monument in waters off Cape Cod causes rift

September 16, 2016 — The establishment of the first marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean drew mixed reactions Thursday, with environmental groups hailing the new protections that some New England fishermen denounced as a threat to their livelihood.

The designation bans commercial fishing in an expansive ecosystem off Cape Cod in a concerted effort to protect the area from the impact of climate change, President Obama said as he announced the designation at the Our Ocean Conference in Washington, D.C.

But fishermen said the area should remain open, asserting that decades of commercial fishing have not damaged the ecosystem. They accused the Obama administration of ignoring their recommendations for compromise measures.

One proposal would have allowed fishing in the area as far down as 450 meters and kept the area open to red crab fishing, said Grant Moore, president of the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association. An average of 800,000 pounds of lobster are taken from the monument area every year, he said.

Denny Colbert, who runs Trebloc Seafood in Plymouth with his brother, said he sends two vessels to the area to catch lobster and Jonah crabs.

“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “I’m going to have to find another place to go.”

Bill Palombo, president of Palombo Fishing Corp. in Newport, R.I., said lobster and red crab are plentiful in the area.

“It’s going to be devastating for us,” said Palombo.

The designation prevents access to the main source of red crab in New England, said Beth Casoni, executive director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association. “The red crab industry is primarily fished in these canyons,” she said. “I don’t see them going anywhere else. That’s where it is.”

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

Massachusetts to invest $1.1M on Jodrey fish pier renovations

July 8, 2016 — The Jodrey State Fish Pier is the best performing and most well-run of the state’s four fish piers, emerging as a model for potential changes to Massachusetts’ other three fish piers, according to an evaluation of the state fish pier system by the administration of Gov. Charlie Baker.

The evaluation, funded by the Seaport Economic Council and performed by a working group of representatives from a number of state agencies, has resulted in two positives for the 78-year-old fish pier named for Edward R. Jodrey, the Gloucester barber who championed its construction in 1930s:

The Baker administration announced this week it will fund $1.1 million in renovations at the pier that covers approximately 8 acres at the head of the harbor, part of what the administration says is its continued “commitment to deepening the economic impact of state maritime facilities.”

Those funds will be used to repair the deteriorating roof atop the 40,000-square-foot cold storage and freezing operation that is one of the array of businesses housed in the three buildings on the pier.

Perhaps more important in the long run, the evaluation showed the Jodrey State Fish Pier, which is operated at a profit by MassDevelopment, is at the top of the class among the state’s four fish piers, an operations model for those located in New Bedford, Fall River and Plymouth.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Fishermen walk out of Fisheries Management Council meeting

PLYMOUTH, Mass. — October 6, 2015 — They called it a “fisheries policy action,” but in the Radisson Hotel Plymouth Harbor lobby, where they gathered, it was clearly a cry for help.

Dozens of local fisherman, from Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and even New Orleans – most wearing bright orange “Who Fishes Matters” shirts – joined voices to produce a wail of dismay over regional fishing policies that they believe are eradicating both the fish and community-based fishing. “Who Fishes Matters” is a slogan of the North Atlantic Marine Alliance.

Fishermen like Ed Barrett, skipper of the Plymouth-based fishing vessel (F/V) Phoenix, whose voice cracked as he spoke outside the conference room after a large group of fisherman had walked out of a meeting of the New England Fisheries Management Council (NEFMC).

“A stock that was almost fully recovered in 2009 was a disaster in 2012. It took two years to turn 15 years of hard sacrifices to rebuild stocks to put them in the toilet,” Barrett said, stammering with emotion.

Barrett said that when he began fishing out of Plymouth, 36 years ago, the harbor was filled with fishing vessels, including many federally permitted ships. But today, after more than 15 years of management the harbor is very different.

Read the full story from Wicked Local Plymouth

MASSACHUSETTS: Fishermen planning to stage protest in Plymouth

September 25, 2015 — PLYMOUTH – Local fishermen angry over federal catch-limit policies are gearing up for a demonstration at Wednesday’s meeting of the New England Fisheries Management Council in Plymouth.

Fishermen said the regional fisheries council has stonewalled input from smaller, family-run fishing operations in favor of larger, corporately owned boats.

Stephen Welch, who lives in Hanover and fishes out of Scituate and Hyannis, plans to be at Wednesday’s demonstration.

Welch, who owns a 45-foot trawler called the Mystic, said federal regulations on fishing implemented five years ago have hurt fishermen like him and are not doing a good job of protecting certain fish stocks.

“I used to have two boats and eight employees. Now I have one boat and one employee,” said Welch, a member of Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, a fishermen-led organization.

Read the full story at The Patriot Ledger